English

Background:Human capital is an effective variable on the health condition of a society and its changing changes health expenditure as the proxy of health. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between human capital determinants and health expenditure.Methods:An empirical model was used with 7 variables included gender parity (GPI) index, literacy rate, life expectancy at birth, GDP per capita, physician per capita, and hospital’s bed as the independent variable and health expenditure as depended variable. After unit root test of data by using Zivot-Andrews method, the model was estimated by ordinary least square (OLS) method.Result:GPI had the negative and significant impact on health expenditure. Literacy had the positive and significant impact on depended variable. In addition, GDP per capita and life expectancy had positive and significant on health expenditure. Hospital bed and physician per capita did not have the significant relationship with health expenditure. The value of R-squared and Durbin-Watson statistic were 0.99 and 1.95 respectively, which showed good model fit.Conclusion:literacy rate and GPI index as the proxy of human capital had the different impact on health expenditure. The first had positive and the latter had negative. GDP per capita had the positive impact that showed health was a normal good.

So far, gender inequality in education has been considered in the context of inequality in women’s access to technical specialties, the impact of education on the fertility rate and wages of women, the impact of religious, cultural, social-economic values on women’s education level. However, this concept does little to explain the gender imbalance and low quality of human capital in an environment where women have the opportunity to be educated in any field of knowledge through a feminization in the European countries. The research methodology is based on the correlation analysis of indicators of gender equality in education in Germany, France, Poland, and Ukraine for 1991-2018. The purpose of the study is to identify the trends and dynamics of gender changes in education, the level of gender inequality and establish the causes and effects of gender asymmetry in some European countries. To evaluate gender equality in education, we used the Gender Parity Index. The results of correlation analysis prove the presence of a direct connection between the level of fertility and the Gender Parity Index in the field of primary and higher education, while in the field of secondary education-reverse. Such tendencies are inherent in almost all countries of Europe. The analysis of indicators characterizing the level of education of women within the Eurozone countries shows the decisive role of the structure of the economy and the needs of the labor market in specialists with digital skills and mental abilities. The structure of the economy and the efficiency of various sectors ensure the reduction of gender inequality in education, contributing to overall economic growth and GDP per capita. Political institutions and national policies indirectly influence gender inequality in education by regulating the development of sectors of the economy with different levels of female employment. The proposed paradigm of gender inequality is based on the crucial role of skills, competencies, and abilities regardless of gender. The gender imbalance has been overcome in countries with a high level of women’s competence. Competence is a new paradigm in overcoming gender inequality.

The Women's Empowerment in Agriculture Index

Women constitute half of the world's population. However, their participation in various arenas be it entrepreneurship, corporate sector, politics, etc. is far from satisfactory. Gender equality is not only a fundamental right but also an imperative condition for a prosperous, peaceful, happy, and sustainable world. The inclusion of gender equality in the gambit of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is indicative of the glaring inequalities as far as gender parity is concerned. As per World Economic Forum’s Annual Gender Gap Report, 2023 India ranks 127 out of 146 countries on Gender Parity Index. There are several indicators of gender parity. Political participation of women both in the capacity of leaders as well as voters is one of the important parameters of gender parity in any country. The present study relying on secondary data is an attempt to delve into the extent of participation of women in the national parliament of the country. The findings of the present study show a low representation of women in the national parliament of the country vis-à-vis its neighbouring countries. Furthermore, In India, women's representation in the parliament lags as far as Global Averages, Asian Averages, and even the average of the upper chamber in South Asia is concerned. The present study also establishes a glaring gender gap in the voter turnout for the polling even after 75 years of independence. To increase the political participation of women several women-centric and women-empowering programs have been initiated by central and state governments. However, there is still a long way to go before gender parity is achieved both at the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.

BackgroundMaternal mortality in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region decreased significantly between 1990 and 2017. This was uneven, however, with some countries faring much better than others.MethodsWe undertook a trend analysis of Maternal Mortality Ratios (MMRs) of countries in the region in order to understand differences in reduction across countries. Data were extracted from several databases for 23 countries and territories in the region on measures of women’s empowerment, availability of vehicles and human resources for health (as a proxy to the three delays model). We identified factors associated with MMR by grouping countries into five different Stages (I-V) of obstetric transition from high to low MMRs.ResultsAmong the four Stage II countries, MMR is associated with “antenatal care coverage (% with at least one visit)” and “medical doctors per 10,000 population”. Among the eight Stage III countries, MMR is associated with “Gender Parity Index in primary and secondary level school enrolment” and with “nursing and midwifery personnel per 10,000 population”. Among the 10 countries and one territory in Stages IV and V, MMR is associated with “GDP per capita”, “nursing and midwifery personnel”, and “motor vehicle ownership/motorization rate”. Two factors were associated with changes in MMR from the period 2006–2010 to 2011–2015: 1) change in adolescent birth rate (r = 0.90, p = 0.005) and 2) Gender Parity Index in primary level school enrolment (r = − 0.51, p = 0.04).ConclusionThough impressive reductions in MMR have been achieved across countries in the MENA region since 1990, governments should realize that there exists an opportunity to learn from each other to bring MMRs as close to zero as possible. Immediate steps in the right direction would include investment in human resources for health, particularly nurses and midwives; measures to improve adolescent sexual and reproductive health; and greater investments in achieving gender equity in education.

The role of education in facilitating social and economic progress is well recognised. It opens up opportunities leading to enhancement of both individual and group potentials. Education, in its broadest sense, is the most crucial input for empowering people with skills and knowledge, giving them access to productive employment opportunities. Improvements in education are not only expected to enhance efficiency but also to augment the overall quality of life. Sustainable development goal SDG-4 aims to ensure inclusive, equitable and quality education for all, including technical and vocational training by providing lifelong learning opportunities. It also aims to build and upgrade education facilities to ensure that all learners acquire knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development. The targets to be achieved by 2030 relate to all girls and boys with complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education, access to quality early childhood development, supply of qualified teachers etc. The present paper aims to address the current status of education sector in India with respect to SDG-4 goals. It will assess the performance and progress of India in education sector and state-wise status of education sector at different levels of education, namely, primary, secondary and higher. The proposed variables for assessing the quality of education are enrolment ratio, learning outcomes, pupil-teacher ratio, gender parity index, education expenditure etc. The methodology for constructing the index of education quality for present study is proposed as principal component analysis. The relevant data for this study have been collected from different government reports like ASER, DISE, AISHE and various other government documents. The paper also presents some innovative programmes taken up in India for improving the quality of education.

The Women's Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI) is a new survey-based index designed to measure the empowerment, agency, and inclusion of women in the agricultural sector. The WEAI was initially developed as a tool to reflect women's empowerment that may result from the United States government's Feed the Future Initiative, which commissioned the development of the WEAI. The WEAI can also be used more generally to assess the state of empowerment and gender parity in agriculture, to identify key areas in which empowerment needs to be strengthened, and to track progress over time. The WEAI is an aggregate index, reported at the country or regional level, based on individual-level data collected by interviewing men and women within the same households. The WEAI comprises two subindexes. The first assesses the degree to which women are empowered in five domains of empowerment (5DE) in agriculture. It reflects the percentage of women who are empowered and, among those who are not, the percentage of domains in which women enjoy adequate achievements. These domains are (1) decisions about agricultural production, (2) access to and decisionmaking power about productive resources, (3) control of use of income, (4) leadership in the community, and (5) time allocation. The second subindex (the Gender Parity Index [GPI]) measures gender parity. The GPI reflects the percentage of women who are empowered or whose achievements are at least as high as the men in their households. For those households that have not achieved gender

This study aimed to study the gender enrolment trend in different disciplines in higher education in Bhutan. The study was carried out using secondary data of the Annual Education Statistics 2015-2020 published by the Ministry of Education annually. A desk review of relevant materials was done to support the results. The study revealed growth in Gender Parity Index (GPI) in secondary schools over the six years from 1.06 to 1.11, meaning there were more female students in secondary schools compared to male students. Although overall growth at higher education increased by 4.4 percent over six years, GPI at higher education indicated a marginal rise from 0.79 to 0.95. The gender disparities have been mostly observed in disciplines such as science and technology, business study, engineering, and traditional medicines. However, female student outcast its enrolment in the study of law, nursing, education, and general disciplines. To address issues relating to uneven gender disparity amongst the discipline, higher education in Bhutan will have to carry out strategic interventions to create awareness on gender and higher education. There is also a need to carry out rigorous analysis to establish a deeper understanding of gender disparities in higher education and implementing interventions to bridge gaps.

This study examines the impact of gender disparities in education on poverty reduction across Anglophone West African (AWA) countries. Using panel data from 1990 to 2023, the analysis adopts a random-effects model to explore the relationship between the gender parity index, poverty gap, and macroeconomic variables such as the consumer price index and exchange rates. The findings reveal a significant negative correlation between gender disparities and poverty reduction, emphasizing the critical role of gender equality in education for fostering inclusive economic growth. Moreover, exchange rate is shown to significantly influence poverty reduction, while inflationary pressures exacerbate economic inequality. The study underscores that integrating gender-sensitive education policies with macroeconomic stability can create a synergistic effect, improving poverty reduction and driving sustainable economic growth in the region. Policy recommendations include providing equitable access to education for girls, addressing cultural barriers to gender equality, and fostering an inclusive labour market to enhance women's economic participation. These insights highlight the necessity of targeted, context-specific strategies for achieving long-term poverty alleviation and economic resilience in the AWA region.

This longitudinal evaluation of gender inequalities and economic growth addresses key questions in the evolving debate over the character of gender differentiation and the goals of womens empowerment. These questions include: 1) whether the impact of strategies of economic growth served to enhance or undermine the status of women; 2) whether changes in the status of women were accompanied by significant changes in gender inequality; and 3) the implications for existing debates. Section I reviews several sets of literature pertinent to the questions using three general approaches: modernization-neoclassical women in development and gender and development. Section II presents the data and methods used in the evaluation. The research assessed the contending interpretations reviewed in the first section by combining another set of cross-sectional and longitudinal data on womens status and inequalities between men and women with other existing indicators. Section III discusses the results in the following order: 1) cross-sectional patterns in womens status; 2) trends in womens status; 3) cross-sectional patterns in inequality between men and women; 4) trends in inequality between men and women; and 5) conclusion. Finally section IV presents an overall discussion of the findings of the whole longitudinal evaluation.

<p>The investigative aim of this thesis is to explore the recontextualization of the normative discourse of gender equality in Kenya’s policy discourse of women’s rights. Its purpose is threefold: Firstly, it attempts to examine the different ways in which policy makers use language in the course of interpreting and implementing gender equality policies. This includes a focus on both the linguistic and rhetorical/discursive strategies that these policy makers employ for such functions as endorsing, negotiating, legitimating, or even contesting given policy proposals. Secondly, the thesis endeavours to bring to light the different and changing conceptions of gender (in)equality espoused by the various policy actors involved in Kenya’s policy discourse of women’s rights over a critical ten-year period between 1995 and 2005. These policy actors include the Kenyan government; women’s non-governmental organizations (NGOs) who actively seek to influence government policy; and the United Nations’ organizations with responsibility for ensuring the implementation of women’s human rights. Thirdly, the thesis attempts to show the extent to which policy initiatives proposed by the human rights-based women’s NGOs in Kenya are taken up in the texts produced by the Kenyan government. In order to gain a better understanding of the discursive interactions between and amongst the policy actors in this study, an intertextual approach to Norman Fairclough’s model of critical discourse analysis (CDA) was used. The thesis drew discourse samples for analysis from the Kenyan government’s periodic reports detailing progress towards fully meeting the terms of the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW); the documents produced by the Committee overseeing the Convention that provided assessment of the Kenyan government’s reports; the Kenyan government’s official texts on gender policy; and Kenyan women NGOs’ annual reports and other texts. Though many scholars and researchers of women’s rights praise the UN Committee’s imperatives for bringing about policy changes concerning women’s rights globally, the findings from this study confirm that the Committee for CEDAW has only textual power, and that it lacks enforcement powers to ensure the implementation of the universal rights of women within the local milieu. In a similar vein, this study demonstrates that though the women’s NGOs play a significant role both in terms of identifying important areas of concern for policy intervention, and in necessitating changes in the genres of the national government, their participation has largely failed to ensure the Kenyan government’s epistemological shift from its current state of recognizing the existence of women’s rights, to the phase of implementing them. This thesis also establishes that differing conceptions of gender (in)equality and ideological differences between the Committee for CEDAW and the Kenyan government tend to influence both the Committee’s and the Kenyan government’s use of varied discourses, genres, and styles, with the intent of manipulating to outmanoeuvre one another. This means that both the Kenyan government and the Committee live in different worlds, suggesting a continuing gap between the Committee’s normative knowledge of women’s rights to gender equality, and the Kenyan government’s cultural relativist perspectives concerning such rights. As a solution to these power struggles and political differences that derail policy making on gender equality, this study recommends the need both for the Committee and the Kenyan government to employ a reflexive and pragmatic mix of both the universalist and cultural relativist approaches to gender equality. This will bring forth shared areas of interest concerning women’s rights between the UN and the Kenyan government, based on their applicability within the local context. Moreover, such an approach will create a possibility for the Committee to understand the Kenyan government’s cultural relativist/competing discourse of women’s rights as another way of conceiving gender equality (i.e. productive power-knowledges), rather than viewing them as irrelevant cultural claims that stand in stark opposition to the universal understandings of women’s rights to gender equality. Likewise, the aforesaid reflexive and pragmatic mix of approaches will help the Kenyan policy makers to develop a more critical and nuanced view of the universal approaches to gender equality, thereby reducing their varied forms of resistance to gender equality via subtle evasive strategies. Methodologically, this thesis shows how a comparative intertextual approach to Fairclough’s model of critical discourse analysis can be used as a framework for establishing the relations between policy text and context. This framework includes the micro-level of textual/linguistic analysis, the meso level of discursive interactions, and the macro level of socio-cultural practice at the local, institutional, and societal levels. Theoretically, the thesis demonstrates the different ways in which particular philosophical arguments and emancipatory concepts from Foucault’s theory of governmentality and transnational feminist rhetorical theory can be combined and exploited by linguists to promote different ways of theorizing and thinking concerning the development of policies for promoting gender equality.</p>

Despite a clear mandate for addressing gender equality in climate policy and action, gender considerations tend to be sidelined or watered down at national/program levels. The Green Climate Fund is well placed to help bridge this gap and contribute toward a global vision to address gender equality and women's empowerment in climate policy and action. For this, the updated gender policy of the Green Climate Fund must be guided by a 'gender-responsive' approach, and hence move beyond the 'gender-sensitive' approach of the current gender policy. The objectives of the new gender policy should be two-fold: (i) advance gender equality and women's empowerment through climate change mitigation and/or adaptation actions; (ii) minimize gender-related risks and safeguard women's rights in all climate change actions. The Gender Policy and Action Plan need to be aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals. This will allow for clearer sets of targets and progress indicators for assessing the Fund's contribution toward enhancing gender equality and women's empowerment (SDG5).Key pointsDespite a clear mandate for addressing gender equality in climate policy and action, gender considerations tend to be sidelined or watered down at national/program levels. The Green Climate Fund is well placed to help bridge this gap and contribute toward a global vision to address gender equality and women's empowerment in climate policy and action.For this, the updated gender policy of the Green Climate Fund must be guided by a 'gender-responsive' approach, and hence move beyond the 'gender-sensitive' approach of the current gender policy.The objectives of the new gender policy should be two-fold: (i) advance gender equality and women's empowerment through climate change mitigation and/or adaptation actions; (ii) minimize gender-related risks and safeguard women's rights in all climate change actions.The Gender Policy and Action Plan need to be aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals. This will allow for clearer sets of targets and progress indicators for assessing the Fund's contribution toward enhancing gender equality and women's empowerment (SDG5).

This article addresses some implications for gender equality and gender policy at European and national levels of transformations in family, economy and polity, which challenge gender regimes across Europe. Women's labour market participation in the west and the collapse of communism in the east have undermined the systems and assumptions of western male breadwinner and dual worker models of central and eastern Europe. Political reworking of the work/welfare relationship into active welfare has individualised responsibility. Individualisation is a key trend west – and in some respects east – and challenges the structures that supported care in state and family. The links that joined men to women, cash to care, incomes to carers have all been fractured. The article will argue that care work and unpaid care workers are both casualties of these developments. Social, political and economic changes have not been matched by the development of new gender models at the national level. And while EU gender policy has been admired as the most innovative aspect of its social policy, gender equality is far from achieved: women's incomes across Europe are well below men's; policies for supporting unpaid care work have developed modestly compared with labour market activation policies. Enlargement brings new challenges as it draws together gender regimes with contrasting histories and trajectories. The article will map social policies for gender equality across the key elements of gender regimes – paid work, care work, income, time and voice – and discuss the nature of a model of gender equality that would bring gender equality across these. It analyses ideas about a dual earner–dual carer model, in the Dutch combination scenario and ‘universal caregiver’ models, at household and civil society levels. These offer a starting point for a model in which paid and unpaid work are equally valued and equally shared between men and women, but we argue that a citizenship model, in which paid and unpaid work obligations are underpinned by social rights, is more likely to achieve gender equality.

PurposeThe paper intends to identify the factors that determine the variations in the gender pay gap and female workforce participation at low-skill manufacturing job across Indian states over the time period 2006–2014.Design/methodology/approachGender pay gap is measured in two ways: one is scale insensitive and second one is scale sensitive. To construct scale-sensitive gender pay gap measure wage discrimination index is used. For main analysis, a panel framework is used. Fixed effect model and random effect model are estimated along with all relevant diagnostic tests.FindingsEmpirical analysis elucidates that male literacy rate, female literacy rate and gender parity index are important factors in explaining the variation in gender pay gap and women workforce participation at sub-national level in India. Female literacy rate significantly reduces the crude pay gap; however, it has insignificant effect on scale-sensitive gender pay gap in low-skill manufacturing sector. Educational enrolment widens up the crude wage gap but narrows down the other one. In case of workforce participation educational attainment and school enrolment both reduce women workforce participation in low-skill manufacturing job.Research limitations/implicationsThe present research suffers from two major limitations. Due to lack of information, the paper is unable to study the impacts of female representation in trade unions, availability of supporting infrastructure like day-care facilities for working mothers, etc. in explaining the variation in gender pay gap and women workforce participation. The second limitation is that the research fails to address the issue related to selection into employment. The present paper uses the macro-level state-specific statistics instead of micro-level data; hence the imputed wage for unemployed but potential workers cannot be calculated.Originality/valueThe paper is unique in the sense that it highlights gender pay gap and female workforce participation issue in low-skill manufacturing sector at Indian sub-national level. There are no such papers that highlight these issues in the context of Indian manufacturing sector. Another contribution is that the present paper considers the scale-sensitive gender pay gap, whose determinants are different than crude gender pay gap.

Gender differences in academic progression are examined in this article using two novel indicators. Two indicators are used to show how long students have studied above the minimal amount of time needed to graduate. We examine these characteristics using Kaplan–Meier techniques, Expedited Fault Timeframe, Regression trees, Multiple Regression analysis tree branches, and a redesigned Gender Parity Index. It is possible to analyse data that has been censored as well as add other factors into the study using this unique mix of statistical methodologies. Gender disparities in university education may be studied using a combination of survival analysis and the Accelerated Failure Time (AFT) model, according to data from a Greek as well as Italian institution. It is possible to quantify the relevance of these influencing factors using data mining approaches such as survival trees and multivariate regression trees. The proposed indicators concurrently use the Multivariate Regression Tree technique, which considers more than one consistent outcome variable. Gender plays an essential part in this research, as women outperform males in terms of these new metrics by completing their studies in a shorter amount of time and with a greater level of performance, regardless of other student characteristics. The findings were improved across the board when using a gender parity index that was tweaked.